9-6 The Future of Intranets and Extranets Intranets and extranets will become even more pervasive in the business future. One recurring theme for the future of intranets and extranets is the need to move beyond information publishing applications. Companies are planning more inquiry processing and transaction processing applications that tie the Internet, intranets, and extranets to mainframe and other legacy systems and databases. Though such applications are more costly and difficult to develop, many companies are forging ahead. These Internet-using companies are in the process of Web-enabling operational and managerial support applications, including online transaction processing, database integration, and executive information and decision support.
